After proposing a huge area in western Alaska as “critical habitat” for ringed seals, NOAA Fisheries is planning to hold several meetings throughout the state to get input from the public.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will host five public hearings in Alaska—one each in Nome, Anchorage, Kotzebue, Barrow, and Bethel—on the proposal to designate critical habitat for Arctic ringed seals under the Endangered Species Act.

NOAA listed ringed and bearded seals as threatened under the ESA in December 2012.

The proposed habitat covers roughly 350,000 square miles along the Bering Strait and the northern Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas. A release from NOAA Fisheries describes the area’s sea ice conditions as essential for ringed seal pupping, nursing, basking, and molting, as well as vital for the animal’s food sources.

The “critical habitat” label would protect the region from actions and activity that could “destroy or adversely modify” the habitat. NOAA says the designation would not affect subsistence harvests of ringed seals by Alaska Natives.

The designation has already found critics—including Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who says the designation would lock up a “Texas-sized” area of water that could impact economic development in western Alaska all the way to Canada. Members of the oil and gas industry have also criticized the plan.

The deadline for public comment is Mar. 9.

NOAA Fisheries will meet in Nome on Wednesday, Jan. 28, from 4-7 p.m. at Old St. Joe’s Hall. The rest of the meetings are scheduled as follows:

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/01/15/noaa-fisheries-plans-western-alaska-meetings-on-ringed-seal-critical-habitat/feed/0Nome Lays Out Juneau Priorities as Oil Prices Paint Grim Financial Picturehttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/12/05/nome-lays-out-juneau-priorities-as-oil-prices-paint-grim-financial-picture/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/12/05/nome-lays-out-juneau-priorities-as-oil-prices-paint-grim-financial-picture/#commentsFri, 05 Dec 2014 16:57:16 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=13361The city's top priority is continuing with ongoing water and sewer upgrades, but even modest projects are uncertain in the face of a potential $3 billion deficit due to falling oil prices.]]>

The City of Nome has set its legislative priorities for the coming year, and facing a bleak financial situation in Juneau, the goals for the city, the school district, and the utility are all deliberately modest.

In a public session with state Senator Donny Olson and Representative Neal Foster last week, the city laid out its four biggest priorities for the coming year. At the top of the list is a $4.3 million request for continued water and sewer upgrades. Nome Joint Utility Manager John Handeland says he also supports growing the Power Cost Equalization program, which for nearly 30 years has helped offset the high cost of electricity in rural areas.

Though he said the bulk of money should go toward replacing Nome’s aging sewer infrastructure, Handeland said he “still support[s] the expansion of eligibility and cap of PCE. I know that’s something that’s been worked on … [and] doesn’t meet with approval from the folks in bigger communities, but nonetheless I think it’s something we should continue to advocate for.”

Emphasizing “shovel ready” projects, the city is also putting at the top of its list a $3 million series of road improvement projects in a partnering with Nome Eskimo Community. The improvements would cover M Street and L Street, as well as 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th Avenues.

The city is also seeking state funds—as Nome Eskimo seeks federal funds—to secure a new $600,000 pumper truck for the Nome Volunteer Fire Department. Last, the city is pushing at both the federal and state level for roughly $500,000 to extend and repair Nome’s seawall, a project they city has been seeking for the past two years.

The school district’s own list includes just over $1 million three housekeeping projects, including repaying the district for lighting replacement and the new gym floor at Nome Elementary. The bulk of that million would go toward replacing the high school’s electrical and generator system.

“This is how the electricity gets from the pole to the building. It’s 37 years old,” said School Board President Betsy Brennan, “and needs to be replaced.”

But even with the relatively modest proposals, Representative Foster and Senator Olson agreed that lawmakers face a dire funding situation in Juneau come January.

Rep. Neal Foster, left, and Sen. Donny Olson during a discussion of legislative priorities with the City Council and the public.

The price for a barrel of oil has fallen off a cliff in the last four months: from over $100 per barrel in August, to prices in the mid-$60 as of this week. More than 90 percent of state funding comes from revenues on every barrel of oil, and the precipitous price drop means hundreds of millions of dollars the state expected to be in the bank simply won’t be.

“That’s projected to create a budget deficit of [the] neighborhood of $3 billion just over the next year,” Foster said.

He said that leaves few options: trim budgets, cut projects, and reduce state services, or pursue new taxes that he said are sure to be unpopular.

“Other options, you’ve got sales taxes, income taxes. Nobody likes either of those, but those are on the table,” Foster said. “Permanent funds, you could either stop paying dividends or you could cap permanent funds. It would be very, very unpopular, but there’s quite a bit of money there. But, you know, this is just one of those things that nobody wants to touch but, five years, what are we going to be talking about then?”

Senator Olson sounded a more optimistic note. With Bill Walker and Byron Mallott in office, Olson expects a reorientation when it comes to critical issues in the bush.

“With this new governor, it’s like a breath of fresh air. We’re going to get new commissioners, new deputy commissioners, at least have that opportunity for people that are more able to listen to us, not going to be fighting against the same bureaucrats that we’ve been fighting against.”

The Nome City Council will make final decisions on the city’s priorities in Juneau at their meeting Monday, Dec. 8.

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/12/05/nome-lays-out-juneau-priorities-as-oil-prices-paint-grim-financial-picture/feed/1As U.S. Outlines Arctic Council Goals, Native Groups and State Lawmakers Left Wantinghttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/11/03/as-us-outlines-arctic-council-goals-native-groups-and-state-lawmakers-left-wanting/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/11/03/as-us-outlines-arctic-council-goals-native-groups-and-state-lawmakers-left-wanting/#commentsMon, 03 Nov 2014 20:18:43 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=12682As the U.S. outlines priorities for its time as chair of the international Arctic Council, some Alaska Native groups say there's not enough focus on indigenous rights, while state lawmakers call for a greater emphasis on jobs. ]]>http://www.knom.org/wp-audio/2014/11/2014-11-03-Arcitc-Council-priorities.mp3

The State Department has outlined the nation’s top priorities as the U.S. prepares to chair the international Arctic Council in April, but some Alaska Native groups and state officials argue the national goals are lacking.

In Yellowknife, Canada, in late October representatives of the U.S. Department of State gave a presentation closed to media—but directed at the other seven nations on the Arctic Council, as well as several observer nations—outlining the U.S. government’s three key “thematic areas” as the country prepares for its two-year term as Arctic Council chair.

Robert Papp, who retired as U.S. Coast Guard Admiral in May and was appointed by Secretary of State John Kerry as the nation’s special representative for the Arctic in July, discussed those themes at the Arctic Circle 2014 meeting in Iceland last week. Papp said one of the three “themes” the U.S. would focus on includes climate change.

“Reducing black carbon emissions and methane emissions are worthy goals that we need to work on with the international community to achieve,” Papp told the multinational crowd assembled in Iceland’s capital city of Reykjavík. “I see this as a particular area in which our Arctic Council observer nations can become involved, and assist in some of those forward leaning and actionable outcomes.”

Papp also stressed that stewardship of the Arctic Ocean, including a focus on ocean acidification, would be part of the U.S. emphasis. He stressed better preparation for a maritime disaster or oil spill, especially as a former mariner with the Coast Guard, is an especially high priority.

“We need to be working together, just not coming to agreements on search and rescue and oil [spill] prevention,” Papp continued, “but implementing actionable items, and practicing together, and learning from each other so that we can assist each other when those emergencies inevitably occur.”

Beyond climate change and Arctic Ocean issues, the U.S. chair is also focusing on improving the “economic and living conditions” of Arctic residents, including renewable energy, sanitation and public health, suicide prevention, and telecommunications.

But for groups like the Inuit Circumpolar Council, an international body representing more than 150-thousand Inuit peoples across the world, the priorities lack focus on the rights of the North’s first peoples.

“I think it’s been very clear for quite some time that when it comes to indigenous rights, both the U.S. and the State of Alaska have been very hesitant to open up that discussion,” said Jim Stotts, the president of ICC Alaska.

Stotts said the three broad themes the U.S. is advocating aren’t a surprise, and he stressed ICC agrees they are important, but Stotts said issues like self-determination for native peoples, along with hunting and fishing rights, that are absent.

“ICC has been promoting, for some time, to have a project at the Arctic Council that would look at food security from the perspective of the Arctic’s indigenous peoples,” Stotts said. “In particular, the safety of the food, the access to the food, and the health of the environment … As of yet, it hasn’t really been addressed, [and] the food security is one that we wished would have been addressed.”

Stotts said those conversations will continue on the local and national level, if not at the international Arctic Council.

The state’s own Arctic Policy Commission also criticized the national priorities. Last month Anchorage Senator Lesil McGuire and Bethel Representative Bob Herron wrote an open letter to Papp, saying the national priorities must do more to emphasize job creation in rural Arctic communities. That’s an imperative the state’s two top Arctic commissioners say is lost with the fed’s more general economic focus.

“We are very concerned that our number one priority, jobs and economic opportunity for Arctic residents, is being ignored,” McGuire and Herron wrote. “We believe that jobs and economic development for the people that actually live in the Arctic is a high priority and not an afterthought for Alaskans.”

The two state lawmakers are urging the State Department to create an advisory committee from Alaska, made up of local government and Alaska Native representatives, to ensure the two years the U.S. will spend as as chair of the Arctic Council reflects the priorities of America’s only Arctic state.

A version of this story appeared online that miscounted the number of seats on the Arctic Council, as well as incorrectly reported the length of chair terms. The above story reflects corrections to both errors.

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/11/03/as-us-outlines-arctic-council-goals-native-groups-and-state-lawmakers-left-wanting/feed/0Old Nome Hospital Sells for $450khttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/05/15/old-nome-hospital-sells-for-450k/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/05/15/old-nome-hospital-sells-for-450k/#commentsThu, 15 May 2014 14:45:46 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=9070New owners Norton Sound G-O LLC have an eBay listing for the former hospital. Bidding starts at $2.5 million for the 55,000 square-foot facility.]]>http://www.knom.org/wp-audio/2014/05/2014-05-15-Nome-hospital.mp3

Nome’s old hospital has sold for $450,000, and the new owners now have an eBay listing asking for $2.5 million for the 55,000 square-foot facility.

“It’s casting a wide net,” said Jessa Youngblood, a Southern California-based communications assistant and marketer. “We have an eBay listing, we have a Craigslist listing. We posted in a lot of the major markets.”

Youngblood is listing the hospital on eBay for Norton Sound G-O LLC, a limited-liability company formed in January with just one goal: buying Nome’s old hospital. The company is comprised of two men: Jim Gribbens (who splits his time between Nome and California and referred Youngblood as a spokesperson), and Golovin resident and state Senator Donny Olson.

“He worked there for years and years, and Donny had a huge interest in making sure the hospital was preserved in some way, in making sure the property moves forward,” Youngblood said of Olson’s involvement. Phone calls to Olson’s legislative offices in Anchorage were not returned Wednesday.

When the building was functioning as a hospital owned by the Norton Sound Health Corporation, the city assessed its value at $16 million. As a non-profit, Norton Sound never had to pay taxes on that property. Now that it’s not a hospital, the city is assessing it as a warehouse, valuing it for property tax purposes at $1.4 million.

But Norton Sound sold the building on May 2 for far less: about $450,000, Youngblood said. City assessors confirmed the sale price. If the facility is sold at the current asking price on eBay, Gribbens and Olson would stand to make quite a profit.

“Right now the sale price that we have listed is $2.5 million, and that’s based on a simple square footage analysis,” Youngblood said. “We really wanted to put the price at a point where a developer would have room to make an investment in the property. So it’s currently listed at a price that is $45 a square foot for the building.”

As for investment, Youngblood said the property could take the shape of housing, office space, assisted living, or other projects. “We have 55,000 square feet, and its over several city lots, so its an opportunity to create several of these options at one location.”

What the Norton Sound Health Corporation will do with its $450,000 from the sale of the old hospital is unknown. A spokesperson for the hospital did not return calls Wednesday.

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/05/15/old-nome-hospital-sells-for-450k/feed/1Spring’s slow arrival, and a special nod from the Alaska Legislaturehttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2013/04/22/springs-slow-arrival-and-a-special-nod-from-the-alaska-legislature/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2013/04/22/springs-slow-arrival-and-a-special-nod-from-the-alaska-legislature/#commentsMon, 22 Apr 2013 21:00:14 +0000http://www.knom.org/mission/wp/?p=999In rural Alaska, spring is arriving in stops and starts.

As our daylight hours rapidly increase – by more than six minutes each day – our skies alternate between sunshine, clouds, and heavy fog. Temperatures hover near the freezing point during the day, and the snow and ice are beginning to recede. Perhaps most noticeably, the many bird species that call Nome home during the summer are beginning to return to the countryside. Spring in Alaska is a joyous time – and a season that rewards patience.

We share this additional recognition with the entire KNOM family and wish we could thank each and every person who prays and contributes to keep KNOM on the air. Thanks to all who help KNOM make a positive difference every minute of every day!

After nearly two years of lobbying, frequent intervention by Senator Ted Stevens, and five inches of paperwork, the FCC grants KNOM and fifteen other high-power Alaskan stations protection against interference that is beyond what is afforded large Lower 48 stations, by creating a new class of station, 1-N (“N” for north).

It is the result of two years of work undertaken by Tom Busch, then president of the Alaska Broadcasters Association, and Augie Hiebert, KNOM friend and Alaska broadcasting pioneer. It was initiated by a petition by Canada to establish thirty AM stations in the western regions of their country, interference from which would have wiped out nighttime radio listenership throughout most of rural Alaska. Senator Ted Stevens prevailed to preserve the coverage rights of KNOM AM and the other rural Alaska radio stations.